Preview: Panama vs. Honduras - prediction, team news, lineups

Panama will look to earn successive victories over Honduras for the first time in over 15 years when both sides face each other in their second match at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday from BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

The Panamanians trailed three times in their opening match with Qatar but salvaged a 3-3 draw, while Los Catrachos earned a convincing 4-0 win over Grenada.

Match preview

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The opening match for Panama versus Qatar was indeed a treat to watch, like a heavyweight title fight with two teams laying it all on the line, and manager Thomas Christiansen can be pleased with how his side continuously fought back after being dealt a blow.

Coming back when trailing to earn a result was a good sign for this team, who will now face another squad in Honduras who showed how potent they can be in their first game, but Christiansen will likely not want to see his side have to duplicate a similar comeback once again.

The Panama backline, which typically has been pretty solid this year, has become somewhat shaky of late, conceding three goals in two successive matches.

The Panamanians have had their share of success against Honduras of late, shutting them out in two of their last three meetings, and they are unbeaten in their previous two games against them at the Gold Cup, playing to a 2-2 draw the last time out in 2015.

Heading into this tournament, Christiansen talked about his team having clear ideas and conviction, so we will see what kind of will and determination they can show against their Central American rivals.

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Honduras began the Gold Cup in style, routing an inexperienced Grenada side 4-0 for their biggest victory in a competitive match since defeating Trinidad and Tobago by the same score in their final game at the CONCACAF Nations League group stage in 2019.

Fabian Coito cannot have too many complaints about the end result on Tuesday, although the Uruguayan coach would like to see his side come out with a little bit more poise from the start, as they appeared uptight in the opening 15 minutes.

However, when they finally broke through in the 28th minute, it was clear sailing for this team as the floodgates began to open, and his side were clinical in front of goal, firing four shots on target and scoring on each one.

The goal now will be to find a way to maintain the momentum they have built, which is an area that needs improvement, as they have not won consecutive matches since winning three in a row in between late June and early October 2019.

This team have failed to make it beyond the group stage in two of their past three Gold Cup campaigns, so given the fact that their two toughest games in the group are still to come, they should not have any problem getting focused for the challenge ahead.

Team News

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Panama striker Rolando Blackburn scored a brace in their opener, his first two goals for his country since September 2019, while left-back Eric Davis scored the equaliser from the penalty spot - only his second international goal.

Luis Mejia started in goal instead of Jose Calderon, who played in their friendly versus Mexico, but Mejia did not fare any better than Calderon, allowing three goals from six shots on target.

Former Toronto FC midfielder Armando Cooper made his first start for the national team since June 5 when he scored a brace for his country in a 13-0 rout of Anguilla.

The Hondurans made one change to their back four in their opener from their match with Mexico, starting Felix Crisanto at right-back and moving Kevin Alvarez into central defence as Marcelo Pereira sat on the bench.

Veteran striker Jerry Bengtson scored his first international goal in over five years with the opener against Grenada on 28 minutes, while midfielder Edwin Solano scored his first international goal for his country in only his fifth appearance.

Goalkeeper Luis Lopez earned his first full clean sheet since 2019, playing the entire 90 minutes against Grenada after being substituted in the second half of their 0-0 draw with Mexico, while Dallas midfielder Bryan Acosta came on as a late second-half substitute after playing the full 90 minutes against the Mexicans.

Panama possible starting lineup:
Mejia; Davis, Machado, Peralta, Palacios; Cooper, Carrasquilla, Yanis, Quintero; Torres, Blackburn

Honduras possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Crisanto, Alvarez, Figueroa, Rodriguez; Acosta, Flores, Solano; Quioto, Bengtson, Elis

We say: Panama 2-2 Honduras

Panama showed a lot of resilience in their opening game against an offensively gifted side in Qatar, and they may need to be just as clinical in front of goal against a Honduran side who are full of confidence.

Honduras should expect a much stiffer challenge than the one they got in their opener, and if they start as tentatively in this one as they did in their first game, they might be collecting the ball out of their own goal more often than not.